Deep focus on a shadowy filmmaker

After the soaring critical and commercial success of her first novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, it took Marisha Pessl quite a while to settle into the creation of her moody, boldly ambitious new novel Night Film.No, it wasn’t anxiety about the so-called sophomore jinx, Pessl says during a call to her writing studio. On the phone,...

Dateline: Berlin

Alan Furst admits he's "not entirely clear" on how he came to be the pre-eminent American writer of World War II spy novels. Beginning with Night Soldiers in 1988, the former journalist has written nine critically acclaimed espionage novels, including his latest, The Foreign Correspondent.As the grandson of Jewish immigrants growing...

Partners in crime: The Kellermans share a knack for suspense

The Kellerman household seems to be in a state of controlled uproar on this particular afternoon. Faye Kellerman is leaving in the morning for a nine-day book tour in Germany. There is a hum of activity in the background during our phone conversation. Last minute preparations and pressing household matters occasionally take Faye away from the...